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California Changes Registration Fee Rules

California legislators have approved changes in the state’s truck registration fee program that will bring it in line with other states. The new fee schedule, effective Dec. 2001 for the 2002 registration year, drops the separate fee on trailers and bases registration on gross (loaded) vehicle weight instead of unladen vehicle weight.

The change came after the International Registration Plan board voted to make all member states conform to uniform rules. States that don’t make necessary changes by January 2, 2001, stand to lose registration fees from out-of-state trucks. According to the California Trucking Assn., that would have meant a loss of about $125 million in annual registration revenue.IRP is a federally mandated system that covers the 48 contiguous states and four Canadian provinces. It allows interstate truck operators to register and pay fees to their home states. Home states then apportion those fees to other states according to where the trucks travel.Five other states have requirements that differ from the IRP standard: Indiana, Iowa,Kansas, Washington and Wyoming.